Monday, September 16, 2013

Jennifer Pritzker Becomes First Transgender Billionaire

There are 48
women on this year’s FORBES 400 list of richest Americans, but one stands out
from the rest. With her listing newly switched to female, Jennifer Pritzker
becomes the world’s first transgender billionaire.

Jennifer
Natalya Pritzker, formally known as James, is one of 11 billionaire members of
the extended Pritzker family on the

FORBES list. They sold a majority stake in
industrial conglomerate Marmon Holdings to Warren Buffett‘s Berkshire Hathawayfor $4.5 billion in 2007 and continue to
control publicly-listed Hyatt Hotels. The heiress has an estimated net worth of
$1.7 billion.

Crain’s
Chicago Business first broke the news in
late August and a spokesperson for Pritzker’s Chicago-based
family investment office Tawani Enterprises confirmed to FORBES, noting that
the name change may not be legally finalized until the end of October. The
statement provided to Crain’s reads:

“This change
will reflect the beliefs of her true identity that she has held privately and
will now share publicly. Pritzker now identifies herself as a woman for all
business and personal undertakings.”